Aitchison feeling positive after unbeaten start

Ben Aitchison believes draws in each of their opening two games is the least Derbyshire have deserved for their performances, and the bowler says the squad is looking to challenge for the top two places in Group One.

The 21-year-old picked up his best figures of 3-18 in the second innings of Derbyshire’s drawn LV= County Championship match against Worcestershire, a game which the hosts dominated at The Incora™ County Ground, falling two wickets short of an impressive victory.

Matt Critchley stole the headlines on the first three days, hitting a century, a half-century and taking five wickets in the first innings, before also taking three wickets on the final afternoon. Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy Harvey Hosein and Billy Godleman also impressed with the bat in a strong team performance.

Aitchison was disappointed not to get a win on the board against Worcestershire, but believes that the level Derbyshire are performing at will prove more than a match for the other sides in their LV= County Championship group, which includes reigning champions Essex.

“Over the four days, I thought we were the better team by far,” he said.

“We’ve played some really good cricket but not managed to get the result we deserved, which can happen, but as a bowling unit and a batting unit, we performed really well.

“At Warwickshire, we managed to fight our way into the game, despite having one off-day, and this week, we’ve only just come up short. If we keep playing that brand of cricket all season, we will definitely pick up some wins.

“I think we’ve played some really good cricket in our first two games, if we can keep that level going, hopefully we can get over the line and make it into one of those top two spots.”

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